“With the big ballparks now, most center fielders are gazelles who can chase down balls lined into the gaps and hit for average, if they hit at all,” Dave Anderson of the New York Times writes. “They don’t make center fielders like that anymore.”

Huh? Most of today's ballparks are bandboxes -- Baltimore, Cleveland, Atlanta, Texas, Yankee Stadium etc. The days of the big ball parks are gone. Yankee Stadium in the 1950s was over 450 ft to left center and center. The Polo Grounds was 480+ ft to center field. Forbes Field was around 450 ft to center; Sportsman's Park was 450 to left and 425 to center; Griffith Stadium was over 420; etc.

Yes, there were some small ballparks then as well -- Fenway, Detroit, etc -- but not nearly as many as there are now.

1:40 pm February 28, 2011

Derek Whetten wrote:

BYU's chances at a #1 seed partially depends on how they fare in the MWC tournament. That's no cake walk. BYU deserves to be considered based on their RPI, strength of schedule, quality wins at home and on the road, etc--what more does anybody want? BYU definitely deserves a #1 if they win out and the Denver/Anaheim route would be sweet! Go Cougars!

RPI #1 and #3 in both polls. I would have to say, YES BYU deserves a #1 seed. Can't wait for Denver.

3:35 pm February 28, 2011

David wrote:

RPI #1, SOS #10, nation's best 9-1 record vs. Top 50 teams.. BYU deserves at least a #3 ranking and probably more. . They should be a lock for a 1 Seed, but bias being what it is, they'll have to win the MWC tournament as well.

Before you knock the Cougars' "weak" conference schedule, try looking up what Strength of Schedule means, and check out who they played OOC.

BYU certainly deserves a 1 seed if it wins the MWC tourney...unless the NCAA has to bump BYU to fulfill its contractual obligation to plant a weaker Duke team as the 1 seed in the Raleigh-Durham regional.

4:37 pm February 28, 2011

Scott wrote:

Weak conference schedule!!?? Are you kidding me!!?? The MWC is at least rated the 4th best basketball conference and will probably send 4 teams to the big dance. How is that weak? That's why BYU won't get a 1 seed because of the nonrational east coast bias.

6:45 pm February 28, 2011

Josh wrote:

Hell yeah they deserve it!

8:20 pm February 28, 2011

BYU Alum '75 wrote:

I weary of this nonsense about non "power conferences" "BCS schools" worthiness to be ranked, receive bowl bids, get high seeds and so on. The list of requirements becomes endless and requires more than perfection. And how relevant is the past unless it essentially the same players on the team. None!

Speaking of BYU-they are Division I-and are ,meeting the "imposed requirements".
RPI and SOS were supposed to level the playing field. But I guess than only applies if your from the correct school or conference. What a joke this is-every year for the past 30 years (whether football or basketball)-there is always this discussion and then a "poll" to see if they( non preferred schools or conferences) are "worthy".

Of course these schools are not perfect but neither is anyone else. And on many occasions, the non preferred schools win. (See TCU and Wisconsin).

So of course BYU should be ranked 3rd and receive #1 seed if they basically win out. Oh, and by the way why don't these "big" schoold have their ADs call BYU and schedule a game in Provo-they are independent now. Lets see how good these schools from the "east" really are!!

7:53 am March 1, 2011

alwaysmadinmarch wrote:

I can foresee BYU as the #1 seed in the west if they win out and either Duke or Pittsburg lose in their conference tournament. If Ohio state, Kansas, Duke and Pitt all run the table, BYU will be the #2 seed in the west.

7:56 am March 1, 2011

astolouisville wrote:

Gotta love the Louisville cheerleader pulling a Stanford. Not the sharpest tool in the tool box.

1:23 pm March 1, 2011

89 Aztec wrote:

Weak conference schedule - not only is it rated 4th, but let's see those east teams travel to all those high elevations and to the Pit, etc... try adjusting to that. Hopefully the MWC will get those 4 deserving teams in the tourny (BYU, SDSU, UNLV, UNM) and we'll see how they perform.

4:27 pm March 1, 2011

BYU Alum wrote:

Merely a question - given that BYU doesn't play on Sunday, doesn't that limit which sites they can play at according to the current tourny schedule? With the current schedule, to avoid encountering a Sunday play they can only start out in Tampa in the Southeast or Denver or D.C. in the West... which means if they don't get the #1 seed in the West, they likely get the #3 seed in Tampa/Southeast. Look it up and let me know what you think.

1:21 am March 2, 2011

BYU Center Brandon Davies Suspended wrote:

Well, with Brandon Davies suspended for the rest of the season (announced the evening of 3/1/2011), I'll be surprised if BYU gets a No. 1 seed now. At least BYU sticks to their Honor Code... Too bad for the rest of the team, though.

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